{"id":475,"date":"2013-09-17T20:52:57","date_gmt":"2013-09-17T20:52:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/?p=475"},"modified":"2013-09-17T22:03:24","modified_gmt":"2013-09-17T22:03:24","slug":"friday-the-13th","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/?p=475","title":{"rendered":"Friday the 13th"},"content":{"rendered":"

What does Friday the 13th <\/sup>make you think of?\u00a0 Playing Ghost in the Graveyard? Or probably a slasher movie where the lead character is some creepy guy who goes around wearing a hockey mask, right?\u00a0 Yeah, me too.\u00a0 Usually.<\/p>\n

But this year, Friday the 13th<\/sup> made me more introspective.\u00a0 I had so many reminders that day about how precious life is.\u00a0 And not because I was being chased by a guy in a hockey mask.\u00a0 At least, I don\u2019t think I was.<\/p>\n

Anyway, here\u2019s the deal.\u00a0 On Friday after I left work, the weather was amazing.\u00a0 I had already declared that I was going to Forest Park to run until my heart was content.\u00a0 I needed to get in a long run since my attempt at 19 miles last Monday failed miserably.\u00a0 I was dehydrated, slept too late and it was like 90 degrees when I started.\u00a0 I finally gave up after 10.5 miles knowing that to continue for 8.5 more would just be stupid and irresponsible considering the conditions.<\/p>\n

As I cruised along, going east on 40, with the windows down, I was listening to one of my new favorite songs.\u00a0 Sara Bareilles\u2019 voice filled my car with the words\u2026\u00a0 You said, remember that life is not meant to be wasted. We can always be chasing the sun. So fill up your lungs and just RUN. But always be chasing the sun!<\/i><\/p>\n

Yep, that\u2019s exactly what I was planning to do.<\/p>\n

I parked my Pathfinder by Grand Basin, knowing that I had a little more than 2 hours to run before my friend Shane showed up to join me.\u00a0 I figured I could get in about 15 miles.\u00a0 More than anything, I was going to be racing the sun because it\u2019s getting dark so much earlier now and running alone in Forest Park in the dark didn\u2019t seem like the best idea.\u00a0 I filled my water bottle, grabbed my Gu, located the satellites on the my Garmin 310, hit play on my purple ipod and set off toward the park perimeter.<\/p>\n

I looked up at Art Hill, heavily spotted with people on blankets, enjoying the day.\u00a0 The park was packed with people running, on bikes, on rollerblades, playing with their dogs.\u00a0 As I ran, despite the fact that I was listening to the likes of Fort Minor and Kanye, various lyrics from my pre-run song kept coming to mind.<\/p>\n

All we can do is try and live like we\u2019re still alive\u2026 <\/i><\/p>\n

My thoughts drifted to a customer I had helped at work earlier in the day.\u00a0 She wanted to start running again.\u00a0 She\u2019s training to complete a half-marathon on Valentine\u2019s Day with several friends.\u00a0 With tears in her eyes, Shannon showed me the scars on her foot, her knee, her arm.\u00a0 Then she showed me the picture of her car after the accident last November. \u00a0It\u2019s hard to believe she\u2019s still alive. Running this half is going to be a celebration of her comeback, but she deemed she couldn\u2019t be ready by November of this year, so she pushed it back to Valentine\u2019s Day.\u00a0 As we talked, that seemed even more appropriate because she not only has visible physical scars, she has scars on her heart too from everything life has thrown at her in the past few years.\u00a0 We all have scars.\u00a0 But all of our scars look different. \u00a0And our scars help us tell our stories.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t matter when Shannon runs her race, the point is she isn\u2019t wasting the fact that she has been given a second chance.\u00a0 But sadly, not everyone gets a second chance like that.<\/p>\n

I couldn\u2019t help but think about someone very close to me who is dealing with a pain that is all too familiar.\u00a0 Wes lost his mom in July.\u00a0 While most of America was shooting off fireworks and celebrating with family, Wes was sharing time with family in a totally different way as he said goodbye to the woman who raised him and loved him all of his life. \u00a0The most important person in his world was suddenly gone and he is now left to deal with the after effects of trying to fill that void in his heart.\u00a0 The initial impact of grief is so different from the months down the road when you are still grieving, but the rest of the world seems to have just moved on.\u00a0 I know this all too well.\u00a0 It\u2019s been almost 12 years since I last saw my dad, and I still pick up the phone to call him on occasion. \u00a0Then the flood of sadness washes over me all over again.\u00a0 And I wish I could take that sadness away from my friend.<\/p>\n

But something I adore about Wes is that just like my dad showed me, his mom taught him how to live each day as if it\u2019s something special.\u00a0 It\u2019s impossible to replace people like that.\u00a0 All we can do is continue living in a way that is a tribute to them.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a history through her, sent to us as a gift from the future, and to show us the proof, more than that it\u2019s to dare us to move, and to open our eyes and to learn from the sky\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n

After two loops around the park, I headed back to my car to check on Shane\u2019s location.\u00a0 As the moon was rising high in the sky, it was past twilight and the stars were coming out, I was glad to learn he was on his way and would meet me at 8pm. I still had time for a couple more miles, or so I thought. \u00a0I refilled my water bottle, grabbed my headlamp and some Sports Beans before setting off again.\u00a0 But I didn\u2019t get very far before I ran smack into him.\u00a0 I was more than happy to see him early since it was officially dark.\u00a0 But I had 7.5 miles to go to finish off my 20 miles and I wasn\u2019t sure he was willing to go that far.\u00a0 Shane agreed to go for one more loop around the park, but he had a stipulation. If he ran the full 7+ with me, I had to go for margaritas afterward.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t have to twist my arm too hard to get me to agree to that.\u00a0 I know Shane well enough that I was already planning on it before he brought it up.<\/p>\n

At mile 17.5 I announced that I didn\u2019t feel like running anymore.\u00a0 But Shane didn\u2019t let me quit.\u00a0 Not that I really would have, but I guarantee I wouldn\u2019t have done as well without him there and I certainly wouldn\u2019t have enjoyed it as much.\u00a0 We kept on, my little light illuminating the path, my breathing heavy and the sound of my pounding heart echoing in my ears.<\/p>\n

And the gift of my heartbeat, sounds like a symphony\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n

We got back to my car with less than half a mile to go, so we finished by running along the Basin.\u00a0 We ran to the bridge, turned around, feet crunching the gravel below and finally my Garmin beeped announcing 20 miles as I stopped right in front of an unbeatable view. \u00a0Moon reflecting off the water, fountains reaching for the stars above, the Art Museum lit up like a crown on top of the hill.<\/p>\n

With our mission accomplished, Shane and I headed to the Central West End for some tacos and margaritas at Gringo\u2019s.\u00a0 We ate.\u00a0 He sucked down margaritas at the same rate I sucked down water.\u00a0 He checked out some girl walking by and I offered to play wingman. \u00a0I laughed at him for being a germ-o-phobe\u00a0 and he teased me about drinking my margarita too slow. \u00a0We later determined that my drinks were being made with considerably more tequila than his were.\u00a0 Apparently, the bartender thought he was doing Shane a favor.\u00a0 Eventually, Shane made sure I was safely back to my car and we parted ways. It was a perfect end to a perfect day.<\/p>\n

The next morning on my way to work, I got a text from Shane that read: How are you running girl?\u00a0 I feel alive, from the run and recovery beverages last night.<\/p>\n

Exactly.\u00a0 Shane described how that long run made me feel too.\u00a0 Thinking about the gift I am given in each day that I wake up and get to lace up my shoes for a run.\u00a0 And spend time with my friends.\u00a0 And hug my kids.\u00a0 And help other people appreciate the gift of their own heartbeat.<\/p>\n

20 miles is hard.\u00a0 But it reminds me that I\u2019m alive.\u00a0 Heart pounding, legs and lungs burning. \u00a0Taking in my surroundings like the wildflowers, the sunset, Grand Basin.\u00a0 Enjoying the company of someone who has the ability to make me laugh even when it hurts so much I don\u2019t think I can go another step.\u00a0 Celebrating an accomplishment.\u00a0 All of it.\u00a0 This is what living looks like.\u00a0 Sometimes its messy.\u00a0 Sometimes it hurts.\u00a0 Sometimes the pain is almost unbearable.\u00a0 But those are the times when your friends show up and drag your butt through it.<\/p>\n

You said, Remember that life is not meant to be wasted\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n

Each day is precious.\u00a0 Go live like you mean\u00a0it.\u00a0 I dare you.<\/p>\n

\"My<\/a>

My running peeps…Wes, Shalini, RRG, Gerry, Shane and Kris.<\/p><\/div>\n

Here’s the link to the song, if you wanna have a listen:\u00a0 http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=WFFberbflbU<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What does Friday the 13th make you think of?\u00a0 Playing Ghost in the Graveyard? Or probably a slasher movie where the lead character is some creepy guy who goes around wearing a hockey mask, right?\u00a0 Yeah, me too.\u00a0 Usually. But this year, Friday the 13th made me more introspective.\u00a0 I had so many reminders that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"aside","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-aside","hentry","category-randomthoughts","post_format-post-format-aside"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4eO4v-7F","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=475"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":479,"href":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475\/revisions\/479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}